The ACCC’s decision today to stop the Coles fuel promotion was the right thing to do. I am very much prepared to criticise the ACCC on the record but I am also prepared to commend them when they do the right thing.

The Coles fuel promotion the ACCC stopped today represents a serious threat to competition in the petrol industry and, clearly, the Petrol Commissioner Joe Dimasi was well within his power to stop it.

The ACCC needs to stop any examples of predatory pricing. Predatory pricing is illegal under the Birdsville Amendment of the Trade Practices Act. The Nationals were proud sponsors of the Birdsville Amendment. Our Coalition partners and our Federal Parliament supported the Birdsville Amendment and it’s now the law of the land.

The ACCC’s decision to stop the Coles fuel promotion today is commended as it will prevent a possible breach of the Birdsville Amendment. The ACCC’s decision truly shows there is the capacity to deal with any predatory activity by major players that is designed to send independent fuel retailers broke. We need to protect competition and that means stopping predatory pricing. We need multiple players in the market to get a fair deal in the long term. 

Credit where credit is due and I commend Mr Dimasi for stopping the Coles fuel promotion. This is however only a first step. We need Mr Dimasi to do more to protect competition in the petrol industry. We call on Mr Dimasi to stop Caltex buying the 302 Mobil service stations up for sale. We need those Mobil sites to go to independents if we are to promote real competition in the petrol industry for the benefit of motorists.

David Allender

07 4625 1500

0428 196 340